Costa Rican court OKs stadium

A high court gave China a green light Friday to construct a new national stadium in La Sabana Park on San Jos&eacute;&acute;s western edge.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) rejected arguments by former Culture Minister Guido S&aacute;enz that the stadium would cause insufferable traffic jams and turn the park into a noisy, dirty and crime-ridden place.

The $73 million stadium, capacity 35,000 people, is a gift from the Chinese government, meant to be a symbol of friendship between the two nations, who established diplomatic relations in June 2007.

&ldquo;It&acute;s marvelous,&rdquo; President Oscar Arias said in a statement. &ldquo;We can finally construct the stadium that all Costa Ricans, and especially our youth, deserve.&rdquo;

The Sala IV stopped work on the stadium Oct. 6 while judges evaluated S&aacute;enz&acute;s claims. The final ruling took just 11 days, far shorter than the average deliberation period of two months.

A Chinese company is expected to begin construction on the stadium in November or December and finish by May 2010, when Arias&acute; term ends.